Tesla CEO Elon Musk volunteered Saturday to pay the salaries of federal airport security workers who have missed multiple paychecks since the government partially shut down in February.
Democrats have filibustered funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over immigration enforcement operations, leading to a partial shutdown of the Cabinet department. Among the most visible effects are Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees calling out of work or quitting, leading to long screening lines at airports. Musk made the offer in a Saturday morning post on X.
I would like to offer to pay the salaries of TSA personnel during this funding impasse that is negatively affecting the lives of so many Americans at airports throughout the country
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 21, 2026
“I would like to offer to pay the salaries of TSA personnel during this funding impasse that is negatively affecting the lives of so many Americans at airports throughout the country,” Musk posted.
In response to the shutdown, DHS started subjecting agencies, including TSA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), to “emergency measures.” The shutdown has not affected United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) because President Donald Trump secured the agency $75 billion of funding in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, funding its operation until 2029.
President Donald Trump later posted on Truth Social he might move ICE agents to the airports to address the manpower shortage.
“If the Radical Left Democrats don’t immediately sign an agreement to let our Country, in particular, our Airports, be FREE and SAFE again, I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one has ever seen before, including the immediate arrest of all Illegal Immigrants who have come into our Country, with heavy emphasis on those from Somalia, who have totally destroyed, with the approval of a corrupt Governor, Attorney General, and Congresswoman, Ilhan Omar, the once Great State of Minnesota,” Trump posted Saturday. I look forward to seeing ICE in action at our Airports.”
Democrats demanded new restrictions on ICE after the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good in January during clashes with “rapid response groups” opposed to federal immigration enforcement operations. The separate incidents occurred amid the deployment of hundreds of federal agents to Minnesota in response to reports about welfare fraud involving Somali migrants.
Among the Democrats’ demands are for agents to stop wearing masks and that they obtain a so-called “judicial warrant” before entering private property.
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